What is Multiracial?

[Nate]

In recent months I have noticed an increased in conversation/pride of some Black people identifying themselves as multiracial. I think much of this can be attributed to President-Elect Obama’s arrival on the national stage.

This is no new phenomena to me as a small child it was not uncommon for a person with (so called) good hair to identify themselves as mixed with Indian blood.

What are the criteria’s to be multiracial? President-Elect Obama is multiracial but former Congressman (D) Harold Ford is not? It seems that if one parent is black and the other is white then the child is multiracial however if both parents individually have a trace of black blood the child is considered Black. If you were to just look at the hue of the two men skin it is possible to conclude that Congressman Ford is more multiracial than President-elect Obama (if there is such a possibility).

What is so perplexing is I have never heard any of the politically correct identify Congressman Ford as multiracial even during his unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate he was the Black candidate.

Is this just another way that the liberals use race to divide and conquer? I can certainty empathize with families that have a full range of skin hue in their family however this is not an anomaly in the Black community.

[Raymond Dix Jr.]

I see your point on the divide and conquer routine of liberals. Perhaps our portrayal of ourselves as being divided over this issue in medium like movies contributes to this attitude. Remember Spike Lee's "School Daze"? The "good and bad hair" scene implied separation between black folks on the issue skin tone. Maybe liberals in the media (mostly white) really believe we separate ourselves in this manner. Perhaps the real issue is do we do so?

Another ongoing more current debate among black folks is the "light skin out chocalate skin in" debate. How many brothers of darker complexion have emphatically stated, "it's my time now" pridefully as they spoke to the ladies? How many lighter bothers say "hey we making a comebacK" when challenging a sister on her preference for the more chocalate brother? Maybe we are the source of this conflict more than we care to admit.

[Nate]

Great points. More food for thought could Mr. Obama have gotten elected if he was as dark as his father?

[Raymond Dix Jr.]

Perhaps not, as a stereotype also seen amongst the white liberal media is the supposed "menace" of the "darker brother". It would have been interesting to see that if little white old ladies from Iowa would have voted for him, regardless of his oratorical skill.

[Chris Arps]

Remember earlier in the campaign when the question being asked among black folks (Jesse Jackson & Al Sharpton) was if Barack Obama was "black enough?" I always though that was a curious question since Barack's father was a native Kenyan. With most African Americans having mixed blood due to our slavery heritage, I would argue that Barack Obama is indeed "more black" than those of us whose ancestors have been here for 400 years! I do understand that it was asked in the context of, due to his mixed heritage and childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, can he relate to the "black experience."

I agree that Obama's ascendancy to the presidency probably has created a new found pride among "multi-racial people" but I believe that the stage had been set in 2000 when the census bureau created a multiracial category on the census form, which may ultimately hurt Black people in the long run.

[Tonya McNairy - Farr]

Interesting that you bring this up. Shortly after the election I had a conversation with a friend and she made the statement that Mr. Obama was not on the same playing field as other African Americans. This caught me off guard as she was a Dem and voted for him. Her theory was that since his father was African and his mother Caucasian, he was not a true African American being that his ancestory does not involve the slave trade, Jim Crow, Civil Rights movement ect. In considering the importance that race will play and attention that will be gained over the next 4 years, how important ( or irrelevant) do you feel heritage will become in defining the success (or failure) of the next president?

[Chris Redwood]

I recently heard a distinction made between "African-American" and "black".I think that is an accurate assessment. In that case, African-American means an American with some African ancestry, which casts a pretty wide net. "Black" on the other hand, might have a narrower racial definition.

[Joshua Warren]

I agree that it's just another way that the liberals use race to divide and conquer. The real problem is--we let them succeed by allowing them to define us.

Personally, I think this fixation on the fine points of our ethnicity is not helpful. And I don't just refer to "African-Americans". Hyphenated references to ourselves (Chinese-Americans, Italian-Americans, African-Americans, Polish-Americans, etc) only serve to further highlight our differences while downplaying the only thing we should really care about--we are AMERICANS. One and all. American...first!

Does that mean we should forget our heritage? No! No one should. No matter what our background is, we all bring unique qualities to the table along with unique traditions and experiences. These should be celebrated and passed on to succeeding generations as well as shared with other Americans. Admittedly, there are times when identification of one's heritage is important. However, there is a marked difference in referring to someone as a "African-American" vs an "American of African descent". One puts the emphasis on one's "African ethnicity" while the other is on the quality of being, "American". One embodies "separateness" while the other symbolizes "unity". Let's enjoy the differences that make our country the envy of the world, but embrace that which makes us one--we are American.